A world of chocolate

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. English poet Elizabeth Barrett wrote these lines about her blossoming love for fellow wordsmith (and future husband) Robert Browning, but they could just as easily been written about chocolate. No other confection induces such swooning and coos of delight, whether it's in the form of exquisite truffles and rich bars or wickedly sippable martinis and spa treatments.

Our affection for chocolate runs deep, surviving carb-centric diets and sugar-bashing zealots. It's a love affair that shows no signs of losing its sizzle. In fact, chocolate is hotter than ever. How hot? Let us count the ways travel-minded souls can feed their passion.

Local heroes

Most cities across Canada can boast at least one local beloved chocolatier. In Saskatoon, it's Harden & Huyse (www.great-chocolate.com). In Hamilton, it's Walker's Chocolates (www.walkerschocolates.ca). In Ottawa, it's shops like Truffle Treasures (at 348A Richmond Rd.) and Stubbe Chocolates (375 Dalhousie Ave.) that make us drool.

Out West, Calgary gets credit for discovery the talents of Bernard Callebaut, a Belgian immigrant who started making chocolates in his new hometown in 1982. Now, he has locations across Canada and the United States (see www.bernardcallebaut.com). There's no better poster boy for chocolate lovers than Callebaut. He boasts that he eats at least six chocolates a day.

On the East Coast, nowhere is as enthusiastic about chocolate as St. Stephen, N. B. In 2000, it registered itself as "Canada's chocolate town." Local company Ganong (www.ganong.com) has been creating lovely nuggets of sugary goodness there since the late 1800s. To pay homage to its long history and milestones (like creating the first ever heart-shaped chocolate box), it opened a museum in June 1999. Kids love the interactive computer displays and hands-on exhibits, as well as the chocolate demonstrations. Adding credence to St. Stephen's chocolate town proclamation is an annual chocolate festival, the second week of August. Not only is the Ganong factory open for tours only during this event, you also get to see lots of youngsters smeared all over with chocolate during some of the all-you-can-eat contests. Now, that's entertainment (as long as you're not the one who's doing the laundry).

Chocolate meccas

The Yankee big brother to St. Stephen is Hershey, Pennsylvania (www.hersheypa.com). No explanation needed here as to what the chocolate connection is -- the Hershey-Kisses-shaped streetlights confirm it. Milton Hershey built the city on a mound of sugar and cocoa. In 1900, he sold his caramel business and dipped into the chocolate business by creating the Hershey chocolate bar.

Taking a guided trolley tour through the town is a worthwhile, and tasty, experience. You see just how sweet Hershey really was. He built many schools, hospitals, churches and parks and provided housing for orphans. The best part is the samples passed around as the tale of Hershey's rise to candy czar unfolds en route. The last stop lets you out at Chocolate World, where you can buy and eat chocolate until your teeth ache and go on interactive chocolate-themed rides.

But why stop there? You can stay at The Hotel Hershey; eat more chocolate in Hershey restaurants and then collapse under the weight of it all at the Hershey Spa. Try treatments such as the Peppermint Pattie (a peppermint salt scrub followed by a chocolate fondue wrap), or the Whipped Chocolate Bath, where you can experience what it feels like to be a swizzle stick in a frothy drink.

Closer to home, take a 45-minute drive to Smith Falls, and check out the Canadian spin-off of Hershey (hersheys.com/discover/smithsfalls.asp). You can see the plant in action from the elevated viewing area (free), or buy super fresh Hershey products (not free). For more, see Daytripping, page L3.

But no one knows how to make chocolate quite like the Swiss, Germans and Belgians:

- In Cologne, Germany, the mod-looking steel-and-glass Imhoff-Stollwerck Museum on the Rhine River (schokoladenmuseum.de) marks a new sugar high for chocolate aficionados. Interactive displays and a simulated rainforest make you feel the heat endured by cocoa pods in the wild. The chocolate fountain is something to behold; as a treat, a wafer is dipped in and handed to you as you pass by.

- In lovely medieval Bruges, Belgium, a chocolate museum (www.choco-story.be) tells you everything you wanted to know and more about chocolate making and its history, plus a few savvy tips, too (for example, don't refrigerate your chocolate because it alters the taste). Do buy some of the locally made goodies. Chocolatier Marie de Bruges creates beautiful chocolate swans. The birds are a symbol of the city, tied to Maximilian of Austria, who once ordered the people of Bruges to keep swans on its lakes and canals forever.

- In Geneva, at After The Rain spa, you can get smeared in chocolate at the hands of a stranger during a chocolate body wrap or a chocolate bath with real grated chocolate and cocoa butter

(www.aftertherain.ch). If all this fans your passion for chocolate, pick up the local fave -- chocolate "garbage cans" (aka les poubelles de Geneve) filled with truffle-like filling from Chocolats Rohr (www.rohr.ch).

Child's play

- At a young age, children can learn the higher art of chocolate making and appreciation. Miss Chocolat in Gatineau's Hull sector (www.misschocolat.com; 173 Promenades du Portage) holds interactive workshops ($10) for little ones about how chocolate is made.

- If you've got more time to devote, head to Birmingham, England, to Cadbury World (www.cadburyworld.co.uk). It's a theme park with an educational bent, with history and geography classes on the beginnings of Cadbury and the path of chocolate from South America to Spain.

- The Roald Dahl Museum (www.roalddahlmuseum.org), also in the U.K.,

is devoted to the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl's early drafts of the book and other memorabilia are on hand, as well as opportunities for kids to make like Willy Wonka and design and decorate their own chocolate bars.

Events around the world

If you're the type that likes the full-on maximum chocolate experience, you'll be happy to know that destinations and events around the world cater to your obsession:

- Hop aboard the Swiss chocolate train (www.eurorailways.com/swiss/choco.htm), a first-class-only excursion train that leaves from Montreux (Wednesdays from June to the end of October) and goes to Gruyeres (a cheese and castle stop), then on to the main attraction in Broc, the Cailler-Nestle chocolate factory. You can get a buzz just from the heady aroma of chocolate as you step in the front door. Load up on sweets at factory prices. (For a Canadian version of chocolate on the rails, book a first-class seat on VIA Rail so you can toss back those infamous chocolate truffles, a staple on the Canadian trains since 1993.)

- Dec. 7 may seem like a long way off, but you'll have to book now if you want a stateroom onboard the chocolate cruise offered by Regent Seven Seas Cruises (www.rssc.

com). This hot-seller that cruises from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to the Caribbean features baking classes by master chefs, tastings, seminars and chocolate consumption in excess.

- Every October, Parisians and tourists gather at Salon du Chocolat (www.chocoland.com), a six-day event featuring chocolate competitions, sales, tastings, unique creations -- and consuming vast quantities. A New York City version happens in November, featuring a haute couture fashion show where all the clothes and accessories are made with chocolate. Last fall, Cadbury held a similar type fashion show in Toronto, with Canadian fashion houses like Brian Bailey and Northbound Leather sending their sexy designs down the runway.

- The really big show takes place in Perugia (home of Baci chocolates since 1922) in Umbria, Italy, in October. Eurochocolate (www.eurochocolate.com) celebrates the sweet stuff in all forms -- even chocolate pasta and gorgonzola chocolate cheese. Catering to the crowd is the local inexpensive Chocohotel (www.chocohotel.it), where each floor is named after a different type of chocolate and rooms are decorated in shades of chocolate brown.

Drink up

Aztec emperor Montezuma was said to have been a dedicated drinker of hot chocolate, up to 20 cups a day, which he believed fuelled his lovemaking. Maybe he was on to something. Italian researchers found that women who ate chocolate were more amorous and reached orgasm easier than those who do not indulge.

- Get it while it's hot at The Greenhouse at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago (www.fourseasons.com). Its hot chocolate is the real deal, made with homemade ganache concocted with Valrhona Pur Caraibe chocolate and heavy cream. It arrives at your table French-style (in a large bowl, not cup), accompanied by homemade chocolate sugar cookies.

- Gourmet versions of hot chocolate are pure bliss from Blantyre (www.blantyre.com), a stunning resort near Lenox, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Berkshires. Guests have the option of having it served as part of an ice picnic, in which you're served by waiters on skates, while you enjoy the winter wonderland of the surrounding mountains. No Kraft marshmallows permitted here: the chef prepares batches of fresh, homemade and hand-cut marshmallows, an elegant topping for a beverage that is really haute stuff.

- Equal care is taken with a version of hot chocolate served at the Royal Plantation (www.royalplantation.com) in Ocho Rios. Yes, Jamaicans do drink hot chocolate. Here, staffers do every step of its creation on-site, from roasting and drying cocoa pods seeds to spicing up the mixture with grated, locally grown cinnamon.

- There's huge debate about the source of the best chocolate martini. Montreal's Boodha Bar (www.boodhabar.com) earns raves for its creation, as does that from the Jetside Bar at The Fairmont Vancouver Airport (www.fairmont.com/vancouverairport). If you happen to be flying to New York after you've tested a few too many, try the hangover remedy from Chocolat Michel Cluizel (www.chocolatmichelcluizel.com). The chocolatey Mocha Avec Cognac Choctail promises the world will stop spinning once you've sampled its blend of French cognac, dark roasted coffee and secret chocolate mix.

Global interests

Just like lovers, chocolate can turn up in unexpected places:

- Amid the beauty of Old Havana's shabby chic (at Mercaderes Street and Amargura), visitors will discover a chocolate museum (www.gocuba.ca). Opened in November 2003, its setting, the former residence for the counts of Lagunilla, demonstrates the royal status that chocolate holds in Cuba. Drop by Tuesdays to Fridays at 11 a.m. to see candy-making first-hand, then stroll through displays of artifacts such as china cups for chocolates. Let's bring back what was known as the French bow cup, used by moustache wearers like Borat to sip the velvety liquid without making a mess.

- Nestled in the lushness of Grenada's forests and rolling hills is a small chocolate factory in a two-level house painted in Easter-egg pastel shades. The island's steamy climate is ripe for growing cocoa pods and the ones processed for the Grenada Chocolate Company (www.grenadachocolate.com) come from a nearby plantation. The resulting bars pack a powerful punch with rich, dense chocolate flavour. Go ahead, indulge. This is feel-good chocolate in every sense. Its chocolate-making machines run on solar-generated electricity and all the chocolate is organic. All profits from its special edition bars named after hurricanes Ivan and Emily go to Hearts and Hands of Grenada, a local hurricane-relief organization.

- Bariloche, in the picturesque Patagonia region of Argentina (www.welcomeargentina.com), is South America's mecca for chocolaholics. Mitre Street is dotted with shops, offering worldly versions, from the bold La Mexicana's dark bars, to creamy, melt-in-your-mouth Swiss chocolate. Thanks to an influx of immigrants from Austria, Germany and Switzerland, who were drawn to the snowcapped mountains in the area after the Second World War, chocolate-making headed south with delicious results.